They need a boost, having lost their last three competitive games against Juventus, Parma and Borussia Dortmund.

“Obviously we are not satisfied, but we know what we have to do and what we did against Dortmund,” said the Coach in his Press conference.

“We need to bring out that same character and intensity I saw in Dortmund. After the defeat to Arsenal, I knew we had to play better, but I thought our reaction with Borussia was very positive.

“I spoke to President Aurelio De Laurentiis this morning and when he brought me here it was to help the club grow. That includes improving the infrastructure to attract top level players and ensure they stay here.

“Now we must seek players not just for this season, but for many years to come. We must continue working within this vision. The team needs a certain mentality and to be more confident in its capabilities.”

Benitez assured fans they should not feel downhearted at the sudden change in results.

“We’ve had the best start to a season in our history. It has been very positive and, though we got a few games wrong, that just gives us more motivation to do better.

“I heard someone say our fitness levels are dropping, but we have run more in the last two games than in others. Perhaps we lost balance at times or our control over possession.

“We’ve lost three in a row, but two of them were against top level teams and aided by an offside and a penalty. We only drew one game this season, which shows we always want to win and I prefer to win one rather than draw three.”

Benitez had some injury updates, as Marek Hamsik is still nursing that bruised knee and Pablo Armero also has a knock.

“Anthony Reveillere has been working well in training and it’s possible he will play.”